So I Found This Thing Called Instagram...

I'll admit that I've never been that much of a fan of social networking. I use my personal Facebook pretty much entirely for communication with groups (my dance group, my residence, my group of friends), and I've never before used Twitter, Instagram, or any of those other sites... until now!

I'm not even going to count up how many years late I am to the party, but I finally decided the other day that I would make myself an Instagram account, and I'd love it if you'd follow me @youngseamstress! There's not much there at the moment, but I'm looking forward to using it to share some progress on projects in between blog posts.

I've also started using my Pinterest account a little more lately - I've had ones for ages but never really used it until recently. Follow me there, too, if you like!

I've updated my social media buttons in my sidebar too - the original ones were a little small for my liking anyways! I'm still slowly working away at some graphics updates for the blog, bit by bit. I'll see how far I get!

Exciting News!

I won a prize!

A couple weeks ago, I saw a post on Sew Mama Sew reminding readers to submit their photos for the Super Online Sewing Match Community Match. I had been following the Super Online Sewing Match all summer, but hadn't really considered entering the community match because I'm terrible at sewing to a deadline, and thought that you had to sew your project at the same time as the contestants to enter. Well, turns out that anything sewn between July 8th and September 10th was eligible! 

So, I decided, just for fun, to enter my Duvet Cambie Dress, since I started and finished it in August. I can't remember the exact dates - I started a few days before finishing summer classes on August 9th, and finished about a week or so after that.

Anyways, it turns out I actually won something! I checked the website today and the winners are announced. I honestly wasn't expecting to win anything at all! I had seen all the entries in the flickr group, and there were so many beautiful creations I didn't really think I stood a chance. But hey, I won a $50 gift certificate to Pink Castle Fabrics! I was so surprised that I literally did a little happy dance around my room for a few minutes. I'm not joking.

I took a look through their fabrics, and although they look a little more focused on quilting, they have lots of fabrics that I can picture using for clothes, and lots of organic cotton, too! I have no aversion whatsoever to sewing with quilting cottons - in fact, I can't help but spent an entirely excessive amount of time looking through them at fabric stores! I love all the fun prints, and of course they're a dream to sew with.

They have lots of linen (and in really fun prints!), velveteen, flannel, and voile, too so there's definitely lots to choose from for garment sewing.

On a side note, I'm also thinking of buying a course from Craftsy while their sale is still on, but I'm torn between classes. I've it narrowed down to:

• Custom Fitting: Back, Neck, and Shoulders (because I apparently have oddly shaped shoulders - nothing seems to fit them!)
• Jean-ius (because I have a pair of jeans that are ALMOST perfect that I would love to replicate and tweak. I could buy another pair, but they're $170 new, plus shipping since I can't find anywhere to buy them here.)
• Adjust the Bust (because, well, enough said.)
• Sew Retro Perfect Bombshell Dress (because I think this would be a great way to learn techniques like boning that I could use for a grad dress, and I might even use the circle skirt version to make my grad dress.)

So, I'm really horrible at making decisions and can't make up my mind. Chances are, I will think about this too much and realize on Sunday that I missed my chance!

The Bombshell Dress course is the best deal, but it's less expensive than the other in the first place. The other three, at around $50 each before the sale, are a little pricey. But then again, maybe not, when you compare them to the Palmer/Pletsch fitting classes offered at my local fabric store that I'm considering taking, for $144 each, plus supplies. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

Anyways, I just wanted to do a quick post to share the news and my random, sewing-related thoughts. Thanks for reading!